Google, FTC Near $22.5M Settlement Over Safari Privacy Breach

Google might have to pay a record $22.5 million fine -- the largest ever from the FTC -- for bypassing the privacy settings of millions of Apple users, the Wall Street Journal reports. This won’t be a blow for Google, which rakes in this sort of cash in around five hours, but it does cast a shadow over the company, given its involvement in several legal arguments over its practices.

The fine, the largest ever imposed by the FTC, stems from Google bypassing the privacy settings of millions of Apple users.

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Google might have to pay a record $22.5 million fine -- the largest ever from the FTC -- for bypassing the
privacy settings of millions of Apple users, the Wall Street Journal reports.
This wont be a blow for Google, which rakes in this sort of cash in around five hours, but it does cast a shadow
over the company, given its involvement in several legal arguments over its practices.

In this case, Jonathan Mayer, a grad student,
found that Google used hidden code to install a cookie for users of Apples Safari browser that allowed the search
giant to intentionally
circumvent Safaris privacy features and track user's browsing habits for its DoubleClick advertising business.
At the time, Google said this was not intentional and that it removed the cookies from affected browsers.

The Federal Trade Commission
began an investigation into the issue in February and now Google and the FTC are close to settling the charges.
The record fine is calculated based on $16,000 per violation per day and takes into account millions of iPad,
iPhone and Mac users of Apples Safari browser.

A Google official told PCWorld in a statement that We cannot comment on any specifics. However we do set the
highest standards of privacy and security for our users. The FTC is focused on a 2009 help center page published
more than two years before our consent decree, and a year before Apple changed its cookie-handling policy. We have
now changed that page and taken steps to remove the ad cookies, which collected no personal information, from
Apples browsers."